CHARLOTTE – North Carolina Basketball Coach Hubert Davis met with a few members of the media late Monday afternoon at the JW Marriott, the team's hotel, to field some questions about his team and the Tar Heels’ opponent here Tuesday night, No. 7 Florida.
The game will be at Spectrum Center as part of the Jumpman Invitational. This is year three of the event that includes Michigan and Oklahoma. The Tar Heels faced the Wolverines two years ago and the Sooners this time last season.
The Gators are 10-0 with wins over three ACC teams already, having beaten Florida State (by 13 at FSU), Wake Forest (by 17 points), and Virginia (by 18 points) by a combined 48 points. The Gators also own a 17-point win over Arizona State. Their 87-74 victory over the Seminoles is the narrowest margin of the season.
UNC is 6-4 having won its last two games.
Above is video from Davis’ Q&A session and below are some notes from what he had to say:
*The film session from the 93-67 win over LaSalle on Saturday at the Smith Center gave Davis a chance to show his team how it can be successful playing a certain, which is what they had gotten away from for a couple of weeks. Those areas, Davis said Monday:
---Overall defensively, especially defending in the paint.
---“Being in the right spots off the ball, whether its midline, lane-line, in the gaps. I thought we did a good part of making contact first on our boxouts and rebounding the basketball.”
---With the ball, “I felt offensively, our pace was good. We consistently made the extra pass tht I thought we could even have done it even better…
“There were some good things we can build on.”
*Davis said he thought after the game this was the first time all season, he believed his team is improving and felt “really encouraged” by the performance.
*He said the last two days of practice were the best the team has had this season.
“I was really proud the last couple of days. I just felt like it was from start to finish; I think I’ve talked to you guys about getting to that level and staying at that level. And I felt like the last two days of practice we started and we stayed there. And we’ll see if we can translate that tomorrow night against Florida.”
*Davis didn’t go so far as to distinguish UNC’s games against Florida and No. 18 UCLA this week as bigger than any other games, noting the stretch coming up with Campbell, Louisville, and Notre Dame is also huge. However, he acknowledged the point of the question given that UNC’s best win is over Dayton, and that with the ACC down this season, it will be hard to build a strong resume in league play.
*Florida is 11th in the nation in rebound margin at plus-10.3 per game. The Gators are 10th in adjusted offensive rebounding, according to Ken Pom. Carolina is 85th in adjusted rebounding efficiency, and overall is No. 169 in rebound margin at plus-2.6 per contest.
“Florida is top five nationally in terms of second-chance opportunities. They have two things; One, a commitment to getting second-chance opportunities. And number two, they’ve got size and length and athleticism. So, that’s going to be huge for us.
“Can we limit them to one shot per possession and be able to rebound the basketball?”
*Ty Claude is just 6-foot-7 but he gives the Tar Heels a shot of physicality with he gets on the floor. He boxes out on the glass and gives the team an edge. Davis agrees.
“He does do that. He brings energy, effort, enthusiasm, and will to and toughness. Not just in the games, but always in practice. He has a burning desire to be out there on the floor. He’s somebody that doesn’t shy away from contact and actually seeks it out. And I think that’s something I think desperately our team needs.”
Claude missed the win over Georgia Tech because of a scratched eye, but in the last two games he’s played – the loss to Alabama and win over LaSalle – he has combined to play 17 minutes scoring 9 points with 10 rebounds and an assist.
*Davis also discussed Bill Belichick being hired as the school’s football coach noting he visited with him after practice yesterday; playing in the Jumpman Invitational and if the series will continue; why Ven-Allen Lubin is now the starter at the five spot; and the team’s mental space after resetting last week.
